Cardinals Battle Bobcats in MAC Tournament Opener

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team heads to Cleveland for the 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Cardinals will face the Ohio Bobcats on Thursday in the final game of the day inside the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Last Time Out
Ball State closed out the regular season at WMU. Jaylin Sellers had a career-high 16 points with five rebounds, and one assist. Payton Sparks tallied his 11th double-double of the season behind 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Sparks tied with Luke Bumbalough for a team-high three assists. Demarius Jacobs posted a 13-point performance with eight rebounds, one block, and one assist. Miryne Thomas finished in double figures with 10 points along with a team-high four steals and one assist.

Record Against Ohio
The Bobcats lead the overall series 52-35. Ohio is on a three-game winning streak and have won five of the last six meetings, including an 87-63 victory in Athens on February 1, 2022. The Cardinals are 5-1 in neutral-site contests against the Bobcats.

Ball State in the MAC Tournament
The Cardinals have a 39-33 record in the MAC Tournament, including seven tournament titles. The seven tournament titles are tied for the most in MAC history. Ball State is 7-3 against Ohio in the conference tournament. The Bobcats won the last tournament meeting 76-64, in the first round of the 2014 tournament.

Scouting the Teams
Sparks has a team-best 13.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per contest. Sparks has tallied 398 points this season and is currently third as a freshman in all-time scoring, behind Bonzi Wells (474) and Ray McCallum (463). Sparks has attempted 192 free throws this season, which is tied for 14th in the NCAA and leads the MAC. He has attempted more free throws than any other freshman in the NCAA. Sparks is second on the team with 15 blocks. Tyler Cochran has averaged 11.5 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per contest, both are second on the team. Cochran leads the team with 58 steals and his 1.93 steals per game lead the MAC and is 44th in the NCAA. Thomas is averaging 11.4 points per contest and has a team-best 17 blocks. Bumbalough rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.1 a game and leads the team with 81 assists. Jacobs is the final player averaging double-digit blocks with 13. Jacobs is second on the team with 78 assists.

Mark Sears leads the Bobcats with 19.4 points per game and leads the team with 132 assists. Ben Vander Plas is averaging 13.9 points per game and has a team-best 6.7 rebounds per contest. Jason Carter is averaging 13.6 points per game and is second on the team with 6.3 boards per game. Carter also paces the team in blocks with 33, while Vander Plas is the only other in double figures with 15. Vander Plas has a team-high 57 steals, while Sears is close behind with 53.

In the Last Meeting Between Ball State and Ohio
In the matchup against Ohio earlier this season, Jalen Windham produced a career-high 17 points coming off the bench on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Sparks picked up his fifth double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sellers ripped a team-high three steals. Jacobs, Basheer Jihad, Sparks and Sellers all tied for a team-best two assists. Thomas and Mickey Pearson Jr. each produced a block for the Cardinals.

In the meeting earlier this season, Carter and Vander Plas tied for a game-high 18 points for the Bobcats. The Cardinal defense held the MAC's second-leading scorer Sears to just 13 points. Sears and Vander Plas tied for a team-high six rebounds. Vander Plas added a game-high four steals.

Tale of the Tape

BSU	Category	OU
74.6	POINTS PER GAME	74.3
76.8	OPP. POINTS PER GAME	67.4
.445	FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.431
.445	OPP. FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.443
.362	3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.338
.359	OPP. 3-POINT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE	.311
.697	FREE THROW PERCENTAGE	.737
35.7	REBOUNDS PER GAME	34.0
-0.2	REBOUNDING MARGIN	-0.7
13.3	ASSISTS PER GAME	13.1
14.2	TURNOVERS PER GAME	10.5
-1.7	TURNOVER MARGIN	1.2
6.0	STEALS PER GAME	7.8
2.4	BLOCKS PER GAME	2.6

All of BSU's games are presented on the Ball State Gainbridge Radio Network on Woof Boom stations 96.7 FM, 102.9 FM, 104.9 FM, WLBC HD2, and the stream of 967BlakeFM.com as well as WERKFM.net.

Be sure to visit MAC Tournament Central by clicking here.

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Players Mentioned

Luke Bumbalough

Tyler Cochran

Demarius Jacobs

Basheer Jihad

Mickey Pearson Jr.

Jaylin Sellers

Payton Sparks

Miryne Thomas

Jalen Windham